“Bad” questions do exist even though I was taught, just like many others, “there is no such a thing as a bad question.” These “bad” questions occur frequently in online settings especially on forums, where people ask others for help. But first, I have to explain what makes a question bad. “How to ask questions the right way” by Eric Raymond is a good read that explains how one should ask questions, especially online. The article explains that bad questions provide vague descriptions of the issue, use generic subject headers, show that the author has put some effort and is stuck, among other things.
I am all too familiar with these types of questions since I work in a helpdesk environment. I have heard people complaining about their computer not turning on, their printer is not printing papers, the internet is down, etc…. They provide vague if not no information on what is occurring so that we can diagnose the problem. It is frustrating when little information is given and my coworkers and I have to dig and ask for it since our time could be spent on a different issue. Similar bad questions can be seen all through our lives, especially on online forums.
Looking at Stack Overflow, there are countless examples of these poor questions. I have linked one of these questions here. The author of this question poses a problem, which is clearly a homework problem, regarding sorting an array sequence in C#. The author gives no indication of the requirements of how the array is meant to be sorted, just the final array that he wants. The answers and comments to the question show that the problem is vague and not enough information is given. The majority of the replies ask the original author for further clarification on how the array is being sorted. Due to the question’s vagueness, the author is not able to receive a clear answer to his question.
On the other hand, there are good questions on Stack Overflow that satisfy the requirements mentioned in Raymond’s paper. A question that is “good” is linked here. The author is struggling to exit the “VIM” editor and is asking how to leave the editor. The author also explains that (s)he tried a solution “type :quit
There are good questions and bad questions. It would be better to call them “effective” questions and “ineffective” questions. Asking better questions and trying to search for the answers by oneself is a better way to learn about a topic, rather than having the answer given. I have used the guidelines and suggestions from the reading in my workplace since I too fall susceptible to the ineffective questions at times. Recently, I have dabbled with Nmap and using it to scan the network checking for any vulnerabilities. There are many online resources that I used to get a better understanding of the tool before I ask any “dumb” questions to my peers. I have learned a lot from the article and it has helped me grasp difficult concepts.